Macrodontophion
{{Short description|Dubious genus of reptiles}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|fossil_range = Early Devonian
{{fossilrange|409.1|402.5}}
|image = Macrodontophion.jpg
|image_caption = Holotype shell in two views (after Zborzewski, 1834)
| taxon = Macrodontophion
}}
Macrodontophion (meaning "long-toothed snake") is the name given to a dubious genus of lophotrochozoan from the Early Devonian Dniester Series of Podolia, Ukraine. It was described by Adalbert Zborzewsky in 1834, but was never given a species epithet, and is considered a nomen dubium, because it is based only on fragments, such as the holotype, a shell of {{convert|25|mm|in}}.{{cite web|title=Non theropods|url=https://www.theropoddatabase.com/Non-theropods.htm#Macrodontophion|publisher=Theropod Database|access-date=1 September 2021}}[http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Dec/msg00568.html Dinosaur Mailing List entry which discusses the genus]
The known specimens of Macrodontophion are presumed lost. Several of the specimens Zborzewski described are listed as being in his private collection, while others were said to be held by his colleagues.
Taxonomy
Macrodontophion was originally believed to have been a snake tooth that belonged to an animal similar to Ophisaurus, or the cephalopod Beloptera, by Zborzewsky in 1834. Since Megalosaurus was mentioned in the same paragraph that the genus name Macrodontophion first appears, many palaeontologists, such as Romer in 1956,Romer, (1956). Osteology of the Reptiles. University of Chicago Press. 772 pp. Steel in 1970Steel, (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart. 87 pp. and Romer again in 1976, believed that Macrodontophion was a megalosaur.Romer, (1976). Osteology of the Reptiles. University of Chicago Press. 772 pp. According to Weishampel (1990), Macrodontophion is a basal theropod.Weishampel, (1990). Dinosaurian distribution. in Weishampel, Dodson and Osmolska (eds.). The Dinosauria. University of California Press. 63-139. Zborzewsky (1834) tentatively referred Macrodontophion to the Jurassic, while Molnar (1990) described its age as Late Jurassic or Cretaceous.Molnar, (1990). Problematic Theropoda: "Carnosaurs". in Weishampel, Dodson and Osmolska (eds.). The Dinosauria. University of California Press. 306-317. Lev Nessov suggested the age of the tooth was Early Devonian, belonging to the Dniester Series, of which is rich in Porolepis teeth, but this could not be completely confirmed at the time.Nessov, (1995). Dinosaurs of northern Eurasia: New data about assemblages, ecology, and paleobiogeography. Institute for Scientific Research on the Earth's Crust, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg. 1-156. Olshevsky (2000) noted that the holotype tooth of Macrodontophion is similar to those of a crocodile or a plesiosaur.Olshevsky, (2000). An annotated checklist of dinosaur species by continent. Mesozoic Meanderings. 3, 1-157. Dumbrava and Blieck (2005)Dumbrava and Blieck, (2005). Review of the pteraspidiform heterostracans (Vertebrata, Agnatha) from the Devonian of Podolia, Ukraine, in the Theodor Vascautanu collection, Bucharest, Romania. Acta Palaeontologica Romianiae. 5, 163-171. and Voichyshyn (2006)Voichyshyn, (2006). New osteostracans from the Lower Devonian terrigenous deposits of Podolia, Ukraine. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 51(1), 131-142. confidently referred Macrodontophion to the Early Devonian Dneister Series; they also confirmed that it was a lophotrochozoan.
References
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Category:Devonian animals of Europe
Category:Extinct animals of Europe